Process of forming welting.



W. B. ARNOLD.

PROCESS OF FORMING WELTING.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20. 1912.

1 1 22,845. Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

041 h/m; ywway fw ways THE NORRIS PETERS Co. F'HOTO-LITHQ, WA SHJNOJGH.D C

WILLIAM B. ARNOLD, OF NORTH ABINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

PROCESS OF FORMING WELTING.

Application filed April 20, 1912 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. ARNOLD, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of North Abington, in the county of Plymouth and State ofMassachusetts, have in vented an Improvement in Processes of ForminglVelting, of which the following description, in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on thedrawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to the process of forming welting for boots andshoes.

In order that the principle of the invention may be readily understood,I shall set forth the steps constituting the process and the best modeknown to me for carrying the process into effect.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown one form of welt produced bymy process, and have therein indicated the steps involved in applyingthe same to the boot or shoe and in finishing the welt when so applied.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, Figure 1' is a crosssection taken through a shoe having applied thereto a welt constructedin accordance with my invention, and representing the condition of theout-sole prior to the roughrounding operation; Fig. 2 is a view similarto Fig. 1, but representing the condition of the out-sole after roughrounding operation; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional detail on an enlargedscale showing more clearly the method of securing the welt in position;Fig. 4: is a plan view of a welt produced in accordance with myinvention and looking at the grain face thereof; Fig. 5 is a crosssectional view upon an enlarged scale of the welt shown in Fig. 4. Fig.(5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the method of cutting the weltfrom a leather sheet or blank in accordance with my invention; and Fig.7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, but indicating the former manner ofcutting welting.

The high cost of leather renders necessary the saving of all possiblematerial. It is therefore highly desirable that the welts of boots andshoes be cut with the least possible waste. strips of indeterminatelength from a blank by cuts which are normal to the faces of the blank,so that the welt is rectangular in crosssection when out from the blank.In order that the welt may be properly applied Specification of LettersPatent.

W'elts are usually cut as" Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

Serial No. 692,024.

to the boot or shoe, it is desirable that its inner edge be of reducedthickness or ta pered. This taper is usually given to the welt after thewelt has been cut from the blank,

though in some cases a strip wide enough for two welts is cut from ablank as shown, for example, in Fig. 6, in the patent to Bid:- nell, No.707,076, and in Figs. 3 and 6 of the patent to Hadaway, No. 744:,752,said strip being cut into two welts by a cut inclined to the faces ofthe strip as there indicated. While cutting a strip into two welts inthe manner indicated in said patent affords a certain saving ofmaterial, it is the purpose of my invention to effect an increasedsaving.

Welts vary in width but are customarily from one half to three quartersof an inch in width. Assuming the normal welt to be one half inch inwidth, I am enabled in the practice of my invention to savesubstantially from one-eighth of an inch to onequarter of an inch uponthe width of two welts or from one-sixteenth to one-eighth of i an inchto every welt, depending upon the inclination of the bevels thereof.That is to say, I am enabled to save one-eighth or onequarter of all thematerial, thereby permitting the production of an increased number ofwelts from a blank of given size.

Assuming that the extreme width of a welt is to be one-half inch, andassuming that each welt should have a tapered inner edge to permit it tobe secured in more cf 1- fective manner to the shoe, instead of cuttingthe leather blank into strips, each rectangular in cross section andone-half inch along each face, as indicated in Fig. 7, I cut the blankinto strips by cuts, all of which are parallel to each other and areseparated about six or seven-sixteenths of an inch from each other asindicated in Fig. 6, depending upon the angle of the tapered cut. Itwill be apparent that the 1;

full width of the welt is one-half inch and that the inclined cut at theouter edge of each welt furnishes the desired inclined edge of the nextwelt. Therefore, I effect a great saving over that manner of cutting awelt which consists in cutting it into strips rectangular in crosssection and thereupon beveling the inner edge and I also effect a verysubstantial saving over that method of cutting the welt above referredto which consists in first cutting a. strip of the width of two weltsand then separating them by an inclined cut. The amount of savingeffected by my invention over such manner of cutting the welt lastreferred to amounts to the full width of the tapered portion of thewelt. Moreover I save a step in the manufacture of the welt becauseheretofore it has been customary to out the welt into a rectangular formin cross section and then to bevel the inner edge and channel the fleshface. I am enabled to dispense with said beveling as a separateoperation because such beveling is inherent in the separation of thestock into welts.

The direction of bevel in the welt formed in accordance with my methodis preferably and is here shown as such that the upper or grain facethereof at its outer edge when applied to the shoe, terminates short ofthe lower or opposite face of the welt, though within the scope of myinvention the direction of bevel may be such that the upper or grainface, when applied to the shoe, extends outwardly beyond the lower faceof the welt. In bereling the welt in accordance with my invention, Isecure certain important advantages. In the first place, I secure animportant saving of material at the outer edge of the welt, since thematerial removed in the final trimming operations from the outer edge ofthe welt is not or need not be more than the amount of the bevel itself,and at certain parts at least of the shoe, as for example at the outerball portion thereof, a portion or all of the outer bevel may be left inthe final trimming op.

eration. Inasmuch. as the welt, when applied to the shoe, is providedwith an outer edge of reduced thickness, the welt is less rigid than onehaving an outer edge at right angles to its faces. By reason of thedescribed beveling of the outer edge of the welt, the latter is renderedmore pliable and can be applied far more readily to the shoe andparticularly can it be bent around the toe thereof. In other words, notonlyis the beveling of the outer edge of the welt advantageous in thatthereby I provide a beveled inner edge of the adjoining welt in the actof cutting the welt from the stock or leather sheet, but a welt having abeveled outer edge is structurally advantageous, owing to the fact thatit can be thereby more readily and accurately applied to the shoe.Obviously when the welt has been applied to the shoe, its beveled outeredge has completely subserved its function of rendering the welt morepliable and its subsequent removal is immaterial, though as aboveindicated I may and preferably do retaina portion thereof in thecompleted shoe, depending upon the style or type of shoe.

Referring more particularly to the draw ing,'one form of welt producedin accordance with my invention is represented at 1 in the severalfigures, the grain face thereof resorted to.

being indicated at 2 and the flesh face at 3. The welt may be andpreferably is provided upon its flesh face with a stitch anchoringshoulder which may be provided by channeling the welt adjacent its inneredge, as indicated at 4 in Fig. 5 or by applying strand or line ofstitching or the like.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the edges of the welt are tapered insubstantial parallelism, as indicated at 5 and 6, each welt when outpresenting an obtuse angle at the grain face at its outer edge and anacute angle at the grain face at its inner edge. The cuts by which theblank is separated into welts are preferably straight as hereinindicated.

The welt 1 is secured to the insole 8 as shown in Fig. 1 by a line ofthrough and through stitching 9 passing through the insole, the welt andthe upper 10. It is evi-' dent that if the taper or bevel of theinneredge be very gradual, the stitches 9 passing through the welt from thestitch anchoring shoulder 4 will issue from the welt at some point inthe tapering portion of the inner edge instead of emerging through thegrain face thereof. It is desirable that the stitches emerge through thegrain face itself, as thereby a greater amount of stock is penetrated bythe stitching which will therefore be held more effectively and thegrain face itself affords greater resistance than the other portions ofthe leather. In order therefore to make certain that the line ofstitching will emerge through the grain face itself or substantiallyalong the line of junction of the grain face and the taper of the inneredge, I preferably. incline the cuts by which the blank is severed intowelts at such an angle as to provide substantially blunt tapers, asindicated in the several figures. In this manner the grain face of thewelt will, when the welt is applied to the shoe, extend sufficientlyinward to receive the stitching and thereby effectively support the weltas described. After the welt has been secured to the shoe and theout-sole 11 applied thereto, as indicated in Fig. 1, the welt andout-sole may be trimmed in the usual manner.

The outer edge ofa square-edged welt and the outer-edge of the sole areinvariably trimmed in finishing the shoe, and the portion of the squareedged welt thus out off would always equal in width at least the widthor extent of the bevel or tapered outer edge and would be of at leastdouble the mass, unless an extreme taper or bevelbe Therefore there isno loss incurred in trimming off the outer beveled edge after the welthas been applied, beyond that always inherent in the finishing of bootsand shoes, and as already stated, a portion at least of the outerbeveled edge may be left uncut in the finishing operation.

per; that is, the beveling of the inner edge permits the welt so to beapplied to the outer surface of the upper that the stitching may beapplied thereto, as illustrated in Fig. 5, without bending or deflectingthe welt, as is the case when the inner edge of the welt is at rightangles to the upper and lower face thereof. Aside, therefore, from thesaving .in material heretofore referred to, by my invention I am enabledso to prepare the welt for application to the shoe that it may be morereadily secured thereto.

The beveling of the inner edge of the welt; that is, that edge of thewelt that is applied to the upper so prepares the welt that when appliedto the shoe, it is not only more elastic but it is necessary to cut offfar less material between the line of stitching and the body of the shoethan in those welts which are rectangular in cross section. In fact, itis unnecessary to remove any substantial amount of such inner edge. Inother words, the welt produced in accordance with my invention is notonly of great commercial value, because of the very substantial savingin stock resulting therefrom, but the cutting of the welt in the mannerdescribed prepares the same for application to the shoe, and it fitsthereto more easily and elastically than does the rectangularly shapedwelt, and furthermore less subsequent treatment of the inner edge of mywelt is required than in those of rectangular shape.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that by cutting thewelt as above described 1 effect a very substantial saving of material,such saving of material being represented by every ninth welt or morecut from the blank.

The welt produced in accordance with my invention, when applied to theshoe and finished in the trimming operations, is fully as wide as a welthaving square edges but having each face of the same width as thecorresponding face in the welt herein disclosed. In other words, asquare edged welt such as described, after being applied to the shoe andtrimmed in the finishing operations, is no wider than a welt produced inaccordance with my invention when applied and similarly trimmed.

Welt users and shoe manufacturers classify welts according to theirextreme widths, and inasmuch as the extreme width of a welt constructedin accordance with my invention exceeds the extreme width of a squareedged welt, each face whereof is of the same width as the correspondingface of a welt constructed in accordance with my invention, it will beevident that the latter is classed as a wider welt than the square edgedwelt referred to.

After any welt has been sewed to the shoe, the rough rounder cuts offthe edge of the sole and of the welt. The amount of welt taken off atthe different points about the shoe varies, the least width beingusually taken off at the outside ball portion of the foot. Atsubstantially any point, however, excepting the outside ball portion,the width of welt cut 0E by the rough rounder is one sixteenth of aninch or more, and in Fig. l I have represented the out-sole 11 as itappears or may appear before it has been trimmed in the rough roundingoperation. This is invariably cut off. The welt is never left uncut, butis always trimmed by the rough rounder, not only to give the approximatedesired shape, but to secure clean stock about the entire shoe. That isto say, it is the invariable practice to trim the welt at all points,not only to give the required shape, but also to produce a fresh cutedge. In addition to the width of welt cut off by the rough rounder, thetrimming machine cuts off an additional amount varying from onesixty-fourth to one thirty-second of an inch. Therefore, no welt in thefinished shoe is of that full width possessed by the welt when firstsewed in place and before it is trimmed by the rough rounder. Dependingupon the type and style of sh e, the rough rounder may remove a portionor substantially all of the outer bevel at parts of the shoe, though inFig. 2 I have represented the said beveled edge as left intact at oneside of the shoe (the outer ball portion) and as partially removed atthe opposite side.

The sole of a shoe as applied thereto and before it is trimmed is neverabsolutely square at the edge. It is substantially impossible to die outa sole so that its edges will be absolutely square, though attempts havebeen made to produce this result by somewhat inclining or beveling thedieing out edges to compensate for the irregularity or taper alwaysproduced in attempting to cut the sole absolutely square. Therefore, itis always necessary that the sole be trimmed along its edges to secure asquare edge. This trimming of the edge of the sole is accom panied by atrimming of the edge of the welt, so that the width of the final welt isalways less than the distance between the face of the upper and extremeouter edge of the welt when sewed to the shoe, but prior to the roughrounding operation. It will therefore be evident that a welt originallysquare edged must be invariably and very materially trimmed at its outeredge, so that it is never ultimately of its full primary width. Theamount that must be trimmed off the outer edge of a square edge welt isalways at least equal to the amount of the bevel in the weltconstituting my invention. It can never be less than the amount of saidbevel.

- From the foregoing, it will be evident that a welt constructed inaccordance with my invention and originally having a beveled outer edgeis not narrower in the finished shoe than a \velt originally having asquare outer edge and having faces of the same width as the faces ofapplicants welt, but on the contrary is of the same width in thefinished shoe as said square edged welt; that is, the width from theshoe upper to the outer edge of the welt is the same in both vases.

The trimming machine usually employed for the purpose of trimming thewelt and sole is provided with a rotating cutter composed of a hubhaving a series of inclined blades extending in a general radialdirection therefrom. Each of said blades is provided at its outer endwith a cutting edge, the central or main portion of which is verticaland the upper, and sometimes the lower portion, of which are inclined soas to provide projecting cutting shoulders triangular in verticalsection at the upper and lower faces of each blade. The said cuttingshouldcr at the upper edge is customarily provided for the purpose ofbeveling off the upper, outeredge of the welt to give a finishedappearance thereto.

The welt herein disclosed, provided as it is with a beveled, upper,outer edge, is trimmed with the sole by the rough rounder intoapproximate shape, the amount of material taken off varying to suit thestyleor type of shoe. Depending upon the style or type of the shoe, moreor less of the beveled, upper, outer edge is left untouched or intactbythe rough rounder, and this is particularly the case at the outer,ball portion of the shoe, which is customarily left of the full width ofthe welt. Therefore, when the shoe is removed from the rough rounder, acon siderable portion of the welt, depending in extent upon thecharacter of the shoe, has its upper, outer edge beveled. This bevelconstitutes a support and guide for the upper shouldered portion of thetrimming machine cutter, previously described, and not only facilitatesthe proper application of the welt and sole to the said cutter butconstitutes a '''starting point for the cutting operation, as-

suming such bevel to have been left only at the outer, ball portion ofthe shoe. In other words, not only is thewelt rendered more pliable orflexible, because of the outer beveled edge thereof, thus permittingsaid welt to be more readily flexed about or applied to the shoe, butthe said bevel constitutes a guide or support in the finishingoperation. Further, it is evident from the foregoing that it isunnecessary, when the outer bevel extends in the direction hereinindicated, to remove. in the finishing operation a portion of the widthof the welt equaling the full extent of the taper, as a substantialportion of said taper may be retained to constitute a finishingshoulder. Moreover, the bevel, when at the upper, outer edge of thewelt, as herein disclosed, constitutes an indicating mark, particularlyat the outer ball portion of the foot, by which the operative is guidedin his work. In other words, knowing that it is desirable to leave thesaid bevel or shoulder at the outer ball portion of the foot, he soguides the shoe as to effect this result, whereas if the welt has anouter, upper square edge with no mark inside of such outer edge to whichhe must not out, then he is more apt to out too far in. In the weltherein described, the inner, upper edge of the welt lying as it does ata substantial distance inside the outer edge of the sole,

constitutes a safety mark, as it were, outside of which the cuttingshould be carried on.

Having thus described one illustrative embodiment of my invention, Idesire it to be understood that although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense and not for purposes oflimitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the followingclaim.

Claim:

That process of forming welting in indeterminate lengths which consistsin cutting a leather strip by a series of straight, parallel cuts,inclined in the same direction to the faces of the sheet, into weltstrips, and providing one face of each strip with a stitch anchoringshoulder adjacent one of its edges.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM B. ARNOLD.

lVitnesses:

Ronnn'r H. KAMMLER, MAY H. LownY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G."

